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| Friday 4th August 2006 | ||
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| A quiet day, without major drama. A juvenile White-winged Black Tern
was found at Covenham reservoir in Lincs but was not twitchable, it had already flown off north by the time the news broke. A flyover Bee-Eater on Shetland was the only
other new rarity reported today.
The White Pelican (of unknown origin) is still at Bough Beech resr, Kent, and nearby the Cattle Egret was seen again at Grove Ferry. In Essex the Great White Egret remained at Chigborough Lakes all day. In Cleveland one of the White-rumped Sandpipers was again at Seaton Snook and in West Sussex the Marsh Sandpiper was reportedly again at Pagham Harbour, apparently having moved to Church Norton. Scarce migrants were indeed scarce. A Melodious Warbler was trapped and ringed at Portland Dorset, and a Pectoral Sandpiper (originally found on Thursday) remained at Martin Mere Lancs. |
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| - Dick Filby, RBA | ||
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Daily news summaries
Catch up with RBA's daily birdnews summaries. Browse ten days at a time, or choose a date to read summaries from that day backwards.
Daily summaries are available from 13 April 2006. For earlier weekly reviews, visit our articles.
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| Thursday 3rd August 2006 | ||
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| A lot of today’s birding interest came
from the east coast where seawatchers were rewarded with a reasonable passage of
seabirds. Best was an adult Gull-billed Tern off Gorleston in East
Norfolk, but there was also a good scattering of Long-tailed Skuas
including 11 off Southwold, Suffolk, with smaller numbers in Norfolk, Yorkshire
and Northumberland. Other seabirds seen along the east coast included
Balearic and Sooty Shearwaters, Roseate Tern and Pom Skua.
Single Cory’s and Great Shearwaters flew past Perranporth
in Cornwall, but star seabird in the south west was a Wilson’s Petrel
from a pelagic off Scilly.
Elsewhere, a Red-necked Phalarope put in a brief appearance at Oare Marshes in Kent, a Great White Egret was again at Chigborough Lakes near Maldon in Essex, and a Pec Sand was at Titchwell in Norfolk. |
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| - Pete Hayman, RBA | ||
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| Wednesday 2nd August 2006 | ||
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| With no new discoveries today the main news centered on the long staying Marsh Sandpiper at Pagham Harbour, West Sussex,
Long-billed Dowitcher and Lesser Yellowlegs at Gibraltar Point, Lincolnshire and the
White Pelican at Bough Beech Reservoir, Kent. As is typical for the season, numbers of northerly dispersing European species such as Balearic Shearwater, Little Egret, Yellow-legged and Mediterranean Gulls continued to increase at scattered sites. Meanwhile the Glossy Ibis reported on Monday near Leyburn, North Yorkshire has been identified from photographs as an adult Puna Ibis; a South American species and an obvious escape. |
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| - Chris Batty, RBA | ||
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| Tuesday 1st August 2006 | ||
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| A reasonably quiet day with the only new rarity news concerning probables and
possibles. In Aberdeenshire a Gull-billed Tern was reported from the
Ythan Estuary by a visiting Danish birder. Unfortunately this report came
through too late in the day for any locals to go and check it out. A probable Alpine
Swift was reported south over Mangotsfield (Somerset) at 10.45am and there
was an intriguing report from yesterday of a Glossy Ibis on a small river
in the middle of North Yorkshire.
The majority of yesterdays rare waders stayed put with White-rumped Sandpipers in Cleveland and Orkney; Long-billed Dowitchers in Lincolnshire and Co. Clare; Marsh Sandpiper in West Sussex and Lesser Yellowlegs in Lincolnshire all seeing out another day at their respective haunts. A Pectoral Sandpiper appeared at Holland Haven (Essex) whilst another bird remained at Titchwell RSPB reserve (Norfolk). A change in wind direction and strength meant a change in headland and fewer birds for many seawatchers. |
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| - Richard Moores, RBA | ||
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| Monday 31st July 2006 | ||
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| Seabirds dominated the proceedings with highlights being the first Fea's Petrel
of the summer passing Brandon Point, Co Kerry during the morning and eight Wilson's Petrels recorded
from a pelagic south of St Mary's, Isles of Scilly in the evening. A White-rumped Sandpiper was new in on North Ronaldsay, Orkney as was a Pectoral Sandpiper at Titchwell, Norfolk. Late news for yesterday from Ireland included the reappearance of both the American Black Tern at Lady's Island Lake, Co Wexford and the Long-billed Dowitcher at Shannon Airport Lagoon, Co Clare. |
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| - Chris Batty, RBA | ||
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| Sunday 30th July 2006 | ||
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| The arrival of an adult White Pelican at Bough Beech Reservoir was arguably the highlight of the day.
Although it is probably impossible to be sure of the origin of this bird, it's appearance
does coincide with a White Pelican in the Netherlands and a long period of hot weather. Elsewhere, a Red-footed Falcon flew over Holland Haven, Essex and a second White-rumped Sandpiper arrived at Seaton Snook, Cleveland. In East Yorkshire a Red-necked Phalarope made a brief appearance at Kilnsea. The Marsh Sandpiper remained in Pagham Harbour, West Sussex as did both the Long-billed Dowitcher and Lesser Yellowlegs at Gibraltar Point, Lincolnshire. Seawatching at Galley Head, Co Cork produced 975 Cory's, 22 Great and 10 Balearic Shearwaters whilst in Cornwall 72 Cory's, 5 Great and 45 Balearic Shearwaters passed Porthgwarra. |
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| - Chris Batty, RBA | ||
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| Saturday 29th July 2006 | ||
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| A change in the weather finally injected a little excitement into
proceedings. A Marsh Sandpiper at Pagham Harbour, West Sussex, adult
Franklin's Gull at Grunty Fen, Cambridgeshire and a Bee-eater over
Trunch, Norfolk were all hot finds and the Cattle Egret reappeared at
Grove Ferry NR, before it was relocated to Seaton GPs, Kent. In Lincolnshire a
Woodchat Shrike was located at Friskney, and Holland Haven, Essex hosted
a Pectoral Sandpiper, a species that has been thin on the ground so far
this 'autumn'. Across the Irish Sea, the first-summer American Black Tern
reappeared at Lady's Island Lake, County Wexford.
Seawatchers scored some mouth-watering tallies at several locations; seven Great Shearwaters were logged past Galley Head, County Cork, with singletons past Porthgwarra, Cornwall and Helvick Head, County Waterford. Several impressive Balearic Shearwater counts were made, including 60+ past Porthgwarra and 41 past Berry Head, Devon. Cory's Shearwaters were noted at a few locations, with a single past Seaton Sluice, Northumberland being the most notable record. Long-staying rarities included the adult White-rumped Sandpiper at Seaton Snook, Cleveland, Long-billed Dowitcher and Lesser Yellowlegs at Gibraltar Point NNR, Lincolnshire and Ferruginous Duck at Loch Gelly, Fife. |
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| - Stuart Piner, RBA | ||
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| Friday 28th July 2006 | ||
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| The best new bird found today was an adult Long-billed Dowitcher at Shannon
Airport Lagoon, County Clare. New finds also came in the form of a juvenile
Red-backed Shrike at Wouldham, Kent, an adult Common Crane at
Lough Beg, County Derry and a Spotted Crake at Martin Mere WWT,
Lancashire. A Wilson's Petrel was again seen on a Scilly pelagic along
with a first-summer Long-tailed Skua, an excellent record.
Elsewhere it was business as usual, with the Long-billed Dowitcher and Lesser Yellowlegs remaining at Gibraltar Point NNR, adult White-rumped Sandpiper still at Seaton Snook, Cleveland and the drake Ferruginous Duck was still at Loch Gelly, Fife. |
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| - Stuart Piner, RBA | ||
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| Thursday 27th July 2006 | ||
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| In East Sussex a Black Stork flew west over Uckfield in the evening, possible the wandering bird that spent much of the last fortnight or so in Scotland. Wader-wise it was more of the same. The adult White-rumped Sandpiper at Seaton Snook (Cleveland) was only seen in the early morning and again at dusk. Presumably it had spent most of the day feeding on Seal Sands. In Lincolnshire both the Long-billed Dowitcher and Lesser Yellowlegs remained at Gibraltar Point NNR. The best of the rest included more dispersing Roseate Terns and the Red-backed Shrike still at Croxley Common Moor in Hertfordshire. | ||
| - Richard Moores, RBA | ||
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| Wednesday 26th July 2006 | ||
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| An adult White-rumped Sandpiper at Seaton Snook, Clevelandwas the find of the day and a Great White Egret
was on Bardsey
Island, Gwynedd until 9am, when it flew off southwest. Elsewhere it was business
as usual; the adult Long-billed Dowitcher and Lesser Yellowlegs
were still at Gibraltar Point NNR, Lincolnshire, the drake Ferruginous Duck
remained at Loch Gelly, Fife and the eclipse drake King Eider reappeared
off Blackdog, Aberdeenshire. In Hertfordshire the male Red-backed Shrike
was still at Croxley Common Moor and a Golden Oriole at Lydford, Devon was a
good local record.
The heat-wave looks set to continue, so we will either have to wait for a break in the current conditions to 'shake things up at bit' or hope for something extraordinarily rare off the back of this prolonged heat-onslaught. |
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| - Stuart Piner, RBA | ||
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